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Show Kathleen Norris Says: Ijcarning lo Forgive Mull Hynaiciita, WNU H'htur. "lle looks with curiosity, annoyance, and even jealousy while you care for his son. By KATHLEEN NORRIS OUR soldiers are going to need a great many things, when they come back from the battlefronts. One of these is forgiveness. "Forgive them!" you say indignantly. "What on earth have we to forgive them! Our heroes, who have faced dangers, dan-gers, homesickness, seasickness, seasick-ness, boredom, wounds, cold and heat, epidemics and insects in-sects and fatigue and you ;ay 'forgive them!' "Why," cry the mothers and wives of America, "we're going to give them the most royal welcome returning re-turning boys ever had; we're planning plan-ning meals that will build up those lospital-wasted bodies and those limbs thinned in jungle heat! They ire going to be lords of the earth vhen they come home!" And just the same I say, "Forgive "For-give them." Forgive them their bitterness 'heir scorn. They'll look at the jrettiness and safety of home life vith weary contemptuous eyes. It's loggoned important, is it? that vedding announcements are engraved en-graved rather than printed? We've ?ot to have parsley on that, have jve, Ma? It broke up Betty's life that I forgot that that fool girl telephoned tele-phoned her. did it? They Hope to Shock Ton. Forgive them their politics. They won't know what they think, but they'll be positive with criticisms, ' opinions, discussion of socialism, communism, labor rights, rights of ex-servicemen, and they will take great pains to say what they hope will shock you. Nothing will be sacred to them in conversation at least and if you hold for the preservation pres-ervation of marriage ties, they'll argue ar-gue for license and free love. Forgive them their strangeness. You're accustomed to the daily home events. You love the baby so much having loved him all those months for both father and mother that the trouble that is a baby is no trouble to you. With Tom it's different. dif-ferent. He looks on with curiosity, annoyance, and even jealousy while you care for his son. Do you have to run upstairs every time the kid yips? Does he always smear himself him-self up that way at meals? Can't we leave him with a neighbor one week-end and go off for one of our old good times? You'll have to forgive for-give him that Forgive them their uselessness. To some of them this terrible experiment experi-ment of war has come just at the wrong time. It's hard to go back Into college, it's harder still to get into employment for which they're not fitted. They will drift. The big boy just out of uniform will come down late to breakfast and little sister will look questioningly at you. Is she supposed to hang around until 10 o'clock to cook eggs for Billy? You will suggest to him that he might like to see Uncle Joe about going Into the paper mill, or Cousin Roger about a job at the hotel. He will nod, his mouth full of your good waffles, but he won't go to see either. A spring has been broken in ; his young fine make-up, and it may be months before that spring is re- built, and he is geared to normal home life again. Recovery is Slow. Forgive him, you mothers of wounded boys, his hypochrondia. He's been hurt, patched, bandaged, he's been in splints or on crutches; his young blood and young courage and young strength has been drained away from him, and he can't regain what he has lost in a hurry. He'll be fretful, talk symptoms, symp-toms, bore you all with his phyical history. Not for long, but until he gets on his feet, in nerves and mind and soul and body again. And finally, some of you wives forgive for-give him that he put someone else in your place, for awhile. In loneliness loneli-ness and distance men need women for comfort, and when any friendly, attractive woman is near, home seems very far away. When he comes back to you, and perhaps blurts out his regret and his surprise sur-prise at what he did, forgive him then. It is part of the total world ruin of war that so many wives find it impossible to forgive this one thing. But it Isn't the worst offense a tired, lonely, hungry, despairing despair-ing man ever committed. Cruelty and injustice and abuse of power these crimes leave deep scars. But reaching out wearily for companionship companion-ship and affection, when the home affection and companionship for which he longs is not accessible, this is some thing to be forgiven and forgotten. As we forgive those who trespass against us, we all are to be forgiven some day. Lay up in the spiritual banks for yourself an emergency fund of divine forgiveness. j They are bitter and cynical. ... |